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Even though the Whitecaps weren’t in action on Sunday night, they still managed to pick up a big trophy due to the Portland Timbers 1-0 win over the Seattle Sounders.
Seattle’s defeat meant that Vancouver is now guaranteed to finish at the top of the Cascadia Cup standings and the club has now claimed their fourth Cascadia Cup title of over their Pacific Northwest rivals and their first since they joined Major League Soccer.
"I’m really pleased for everyone involved with the club: the players, the staff, the front office staff, and then obviously for the supporters as well," Whitecaps FC head coach Martin Rennie told whitecapsfc.com. "I know that it’s really, really important to all of the players and to the coaches and to everyone at the club to beat our rivals.”
“Those are the games that have the most intense atmosphere, the highest energy and often the most on the line,” Rennie added. “I’m really, really pleased that we’ve made this step. It’s our first trophy as an MLS club and hopefully it will be the first of many."
Members of the Vancouver Southsiders and Curva Collective, both independent supporters groups of Whitecaps FC, were on hand in Portland to claim the trophy.
Winning the 2013 Cascadia Cup makes Whitecaps FC the most successful club in competition’s history. They have now won four titles since the trophy was first awarded in 2004 – one more than both Portland and Seattle.
Rennie was quick to characterize the trophy as something that is vitally important with respect to rewarding the club’s supporters and loyal fan base.
"Our fans are incredible ... they back us so much," Rennie said. "Maybe unlike other sports and maybe even other teams, our fans are with us 100 per cent through every game even if it’s not going the way they would like or we would like.”
“That kind of support is what builds the club. We want to be able to reward that with winning big games and winning trophies. Obviously, this is an important one for them. We hope that it’s some reward for the support they’ve given us and we hope we can give them more reward in the next few weeks."
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